REARRANGING FURNITURE

 After a 25-year hiatus, Mike has taken up leather tooling again. He set up his work station at the end of the upstairs hallway in the area known as the "east dormer." It had been a sitting area, mostly unused. Mike needed to improve the cramped space so that his tools would be organized. Today we decided to deal with it.

 The first thing we did was bring a small chest of drawers, World War II vintage, out of the attic. Then we moved Grandma Ina's overstuffed rocking chair to the office / den downstairs. Next we moved a small bookcase and its contents of books to the den as well. Then Mike re-arranged the dormer space.

Here's Grandma Ina's trunk where I keep family history items. The big lamp is too large and will be replaced when I find something I like. The table was a family piece that my dad antiqued.

And here's Grandma's chair in the den.

We had the chair reupholstered about 1990. At that time the upholsterer told us that these old rockers are now sought for their comfort. I don't know if having old stuff is a curse or a blessing. KW

DEDICATED TO FOLLOWERS OF THE GREAT PUMPKIN

"Halloween is becoming a forgotten holiday," reads the cover of "The Peanuts Book of Pumpkin Carols." "We dedicated followers of the Great Pumpkin must do something to rekindle the Halloween spirit. Let us not rest until the universe resounds with pumpkin carols." And then the carols are obviously patterned on secular Christmas songs.

"Deck the patch with orange and black,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Take along your goody sack,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

OR
Dashing through the streets
In our costumes bright and gay
To each house we go
Laughing all the way.

Here's a cute little vintage Halloween costume. No, not mine but Mike's younger sister, Carol's, made almost 60 years ago by another "retro" woman of my experience -- my mother-in-law, Bennie. If I judge correctly by looking at the little witch dress, it was made for a six- or seven-year-old, so Bennie probably made this costume for Carol when they lived in Mississippi -- say 1951 or 1952. A 4-inch panel was sown on the bottom of the dress which probably enabled Carol to wear it one more year, an easy fix if a mother can get away with it.

Mike recognized the dress as Carol's but disavowed any responsibility toward her Halloween activities. Was it a party or trick-or-treating, I asked. He allowed that he went trick-or-treating but certainly not with Carol. He doesn't know what Carol did -- or with whom. But he remembered the costume and knew his mother had made it.

I don't remember exactly how the little witch costume came to our house -- and maybe the paper ornaments you see on the mantel as well. I thought perhaps the intent was that Hallie could wear the costume, but even if I could have persuaded her to do so I wouldn't have. I knew the fabric was fragile, and it's such a fine example of a Halloween costume, early 1950s. It should be cherished now as a keepsake -- a reminder of how it was.

Mike and I have many fond memories of Halloweens past, including recent years when we've traveled to Denver to trick-or-treat with the Mile High Warnocks. We aren't going this year -- maybe next. There should be a number of years yet when we can tag along with young Emerson.

Here's a door hanger I made with my embroidery machine the other day -- a fun project. While digging in my "hobby closet" this afternoon I found scraps suitable for making even more of them.

The scene outside my window truly says "autumn" today -- gray, rainy, chilly, breezy with leaves flying through the air. Mike says no bike ride or bird hunting this afternoon. He went out to hunt deer this morning but the deer scored again. I made "Marshmallow Cheerios Squares" (or whatever they call that recipe) with Hallie's leftover Multigrain Cheerios. Now it's time for a hot cup of tea -- and the vintage sewing room. KW

FALL -- AT LAST!

Mike and I enjoyed a beautiful drive to the farm along the Clearwater River yesterday afternoon. Shades of yellow, red and orange along the riverbank were set off against the evergreens. I didn't notice reflection in the water as we sometimes see. It was overcast and even rainy.

The temperature was about 40 when we arrived at the farm. Just last week the afternoons were still warm -- nearly 70. This week is a different story. Mike soon had a cheery, warm fire in the fireplace insert, and I helped by baking sweet potato pound cake in the oven. This morning at 6:00 it was 36 and drizzly. Outdoor activities -- like hunting deer or planting spring bulbs -- just don't appeal. Well, one would be hard-pressed to find a deer on a day like today, especially here on the ridge. The deer are likely in the canyon. But -- I figure that's why they call it hunting.Still, we avoid the canyon because a hunting preserve is located there -- and besides, pulling one's quarry up the steep hillside is a trial, as several can attest. Mike was just saying that he might go out and scout for fresh tracks today. I told him it seems like if he wants to get a deer he should do something. So, if you're keeping score, the deer are way ahead of Mike.

Since we arrived, it's been all about making do. I had the feeling I was not well-prepared for this stay, and I discovered I was right. The sweet potato cake had to be made with bread flour -- I have no other and I'm low on that. Supper was a new concoction -- Kathy's easy cheesy pheasant enchiladas -- since we have no canned chilies or salsa. I'm low on butter and margarine, limiting cookie baking. And I'm uncertain if Mike knows yet that I failed to bring extra undershorts for him. Oh well. We'll cope.

This pretty little maple has been struggling to grow. "Uncle" Dan, the forestry man, suggested more water, and I did find that helped. The tree just doesn't seem to take off and grow, but as you can see, the leaves are pretty. The leaves of the maple in the front yard are standard yellow and green -- not spectacular. I think my dad found that tree as a sapling and transplanted it here after we burned the old cabin down. It's probably about 40 years old.

The middle photo is of the spyrea bush which is abundant in brushy places here. I suspect the family transplanted this bush to the yard many years ago, so I feel sentimental about it. A rodent has made a home in its roots, and I thought we had lost it this spring. However, much to my surprise it made a comeback. KW

THE REASON I WAS THERE . . .

I knew the reason I was there. Yes, I knew why I had come to Jo-Ann Fabric today. I might have said it was to buy fabric, to check the remnant bin, to get some sewing notions, or even to pick up some of those cute Halloween yard ornaments they sell for $3.99 – all of which I did. But none of those things were the real reason I was there.

I had seen it in the current sales flyer – a Jo-Ann's store in miniature, a porcelain "holiday house." I have a few Department 56 Original Snow Village porcelain pieces, and heretofore I have resisted mixing in pieces from other manufacturers. But a replica Jo-Ann's? I just couldn't resist. I like to collect pieces that have meaning to my experience, and of course, Jo-Ann's in all its weirdness is a spot on my regular shopping route.

So, there I was on the narrow aisle of Christmas home decorator items – "Holiday Inspirations," they call that line. In actuality they only had a few porcelain houses in stock at this relatively small store, and only one of those was a Jo-Ann store. "Nah!" I said to myself. "I shouldn't buy it. Or maybe I should just wait and see if they mark it down after Christmas."

"It won't be here after Christmas," I countered. "In fact, it won't be here next week. It's either yours now or never." And it was in the cart.

"Oh look!" said the cashier. "Now you own Jo-Ann's!"

On another whimsical note, last week at Mike's encouragement we bought one of those cute Halloween yard ornaments at Jo-Ann's. Mike hammered it into one of our rock garden beds and came in to say he'd like two more. So, while I was at Jo-Ann's buying the replica store, I also picked up two more Halloween characters. The picture isn't great, but you get the idea.

Our town neighborhood is not a pretty area in my estimation, but occasionally I look out the window and see something beautiful – like the reflection of the late afternoon sun on the hillside with the storm sky in the background.

Tomorrow it's my dentist appointment for replacement of an old filling – and then back to the farm for a few days. Looking forward to it – the farm, not the dentist. KW

ELDERBERRY FEST: CLOSING CEREMONY

The final day of Elderberry Fest 2010 was Sunday, October 17. It was early when I got up, so I decided to use up the elderberry juice I had thawed by making more jelly. Having learned a few things -- and this time working alone -- I knew I could quickly finish the process, and I did. I guess this was the closing ceremony.

Hallie was interested in pruning bushes and trees. Recommendations are for spring rather than fall pruning, but the trouble is that we aren't here in the spring -- mud season -- when we should be doing that. We decided to go ahead and prune out the old pear tree anyway. I expect it has long outlived its life expectancy. If we lose it because we pruned it, we've only forced something that was coming.

See how foggy it is -- cold and clammy.

 While Nick climbed into the pear tree, Hallie and I load the trimmings. [Hallie says I have quite obviously mis-identified here: Hallie is in the tree; Nick is on the ground.]

 When the fog lifted it was a decent day. Nick and Hallie did some research on rose hips and we picked a couple of quarts of hips off the old wild rose bramble bush. Mike and I have ignored it because it is so "stickery," but it is so overgrown that the roses are small. So while Nick and I picked hips, Hallie pruned a bit. Mike considers the bramble good game bird habitat, and indeed, I have seen the quail enjoy its protection. I believe we can prune it a bit and still have good habitat.

 Nick and Hallie left after lunch and Elderberry Fest officially closed. It was such a lovely afternoon that I decided to accompany Mike and Nellie on their farm hike / hunt. I got some good photos of the property. I also located more wild rose bushes. We got what we wanted from the hunt -- a bird to augment our supper.

Here's one that got away. See the deer in the center of the picture. Nellie and Mike scared her out of a draw while they were bird hunting. (This photo looks east from a high point on June's place, if that means anything to you.) Mike seemed nonchalant about this event.

Monday morning I arose early to get ready for the return to town. Mike decided not to get up to deer hunt, thinking it was useless to do so because of a bright moon and the apparent absence of the deer.  Sitting in the living room I heard some sort of expletive  from upstairs. As Mike sat up in bed he saw a big doe sauntering across the north field. KW

ELDERBERRY FEST 2010 -- SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16

Elderberry Fest 2010 opened Saturday, October 16, with a farm breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. Nick had brought a jar of his Seattle Blackberry jelly which we sampled on our toast -- very good.Then we donned jackets and caps and headed out to find elderberry bushes, carrying with us a hacksaw and pruners. I thought we were heading back to the canyon rim, but wordlessly Hallie and Nick fell to work on the pictured bush before we arrived at my destination. Meanwhile Mike left to take Nellie to the vet in Orofino, and Clint's online research revealed our old Ward's riding mower to be a sought-after model to be converted to a lawnmower race.

In due time Mike returned from the vet's with bandages to protect Nellie's wound when she hunts, but alas! the medicine had been left behind. Somehow the little bottle disappeared behind the bell on the vet's counter and both the receptionist and Mike overlooked it. There was nothing to do but to return to town, which Mike did reluctantly. (Of course, he didn't say much about having to do that -- LOL.)

Having picked a bucket of lovely clumps of elderberry, Nick and I worked to clean and stem them. By the way, I don't know who's white head that is in the picture -- certainly not mine!

After lunch Clint said good-bye. He said he didn't know when he'd be back. But he'll return in his pick-up sometime because he wants that old Ward's mower.

After cooking the stemmed elderberries, we strained the juice through cheesecloth. Those berries netted us plenty of juice. Here I am -- calling the attention of my students to some important facet of jelly making.

Nick checks the steaming hot berries as the juice drips into the bowl.

Nick said he prefers straight elderberry jelly instead of the blend of elderberry and apple. Mike prefers elderberry-apple, but fortunately I have plenty of jars and plenty of juice and can make everyone happy. Here Nick adds sugar to the elderberry juice -- 4 1/2 cups of pre-measured pure cane sugar to 3 cups juice. Sugar high, anyone? As Nick and I worked away, Hallie handled the camera work, often standing on a little Sunday school chair for extra height. I noticed she was whistling Christmas songs.

Nick tips the stock pot so that I can ladle every last drop of precious jelly liquid -- hot, hot, hot.











And here we are placing the lids and rings on hot jars filled with the marvelous elderberry elixir. This was not quite the final step, though. We then placed the jars on a rack in the canning kettle and boiled them for five minutes to provide a hard seal. This was the first time I have done that. We found the rack to be inadequate, really, for small jelly jars, but we made it work.

We made one more batch of jelly Saturday afternoon, this time without added pectin. I don't remember exact proportions, but we added some prepared country apple juice to the elderberries and sugar, then let it simmer. Elderberries apparently don't have much natural pectin, so apple juice is a good addition. It also tempers the strong elderberry flavor. It took a long time for it to reach 220 on my candy thermometer, and I think we all wondered if that vintage method is really worth the time in the modern world. Still, it was a good demonstration of how "grandmother" made her jelly. We also tried "sheeting" the hot mixture on a plate, but I considered that experiment inconclusive. 

While I finished up in the kitchen, Hallie and Nick went back out to explore and prune more bushes. This time they found some wild raspberry bushes -- or whatever they are -- and pruned them.

We were all exhausted at the end of the day, but a rather good feeling knowing we had accomplished so much.

ELDERBERRY FEST OPENER – OR NELLIE’S TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY

Son Clint arrived in town Thursday, and on Friday morning, he joined Mike on a hunt while I packed for the farm. Answering the phone just before noon, I heard Clint's familiar greeting: "Hi Mom, What's up?" Since he and Mike were supposed to be together – and since I expected to see Clint at the farm later in the afternoon, I didn't think he had called just to chat. He went on to say that Nellie had torn her leg badly and Mike was stopping by the vet's on his way home. They didn't see the injury incident but believe she got into some downed barbed wire.

Mike pulled in about 10 minutes later with one badly wounded Nellie, obviously in distress and feeling sorry for herself. We have seen this type of injury before – several years ago – and we knew not to panic. Allowing the dog to lick the wound will keep it clean and provide other healing benefits. Eventually the wound just draws together – better than any surgical procedure. But our regular vet was not available until later in the day, and we wanted to leave for the farm, so Mike made an appointment with Dr. Wolverton in Orofino for Saturday morning. Mike knew Nellie needed an antibiotic plus some sort of bandage to wear when hunting. Having done all we could for her at the moment, Mike and I packed up and left for the farm. By the time we arrived – 3:15 or so – Clint was already waiting for us.

Clint's particular interest in visiting the farm wasn't necessarily Elderberry Fest. He is thinking of making a go-cart and Mike offered him old riding lawnmower parts. So while the fellows disappeared to the barn to look over the collection of available defunct lawnmowers, I took care of things in the house, including lasagna and a mystery pecan pie. Hallie and Nick weren't due until later since they couldn't leave Seattle until 3:00 -- so after supper I shortened jeans for Clint.

About 9:30 I heard a car in the lane, and suddenly a moping Nellie came to life when she realized a car had pulled in. She undoubtedly remembered who it is that arrives at bedtime. "Let me by, let me by," she seemed to say as she squeezed between me and a partially opened door. She was not disappointed. "Look what happened to my leg," she seemed to say as she greeted Hallie. She mustered the enthusiasm to greet, but when it came to gnawing Hallie's gift, a pig ear, she wasn't interested. Hallie put it away for the next day.

We wasted no time in getting to bed so that we could enter into Elderberry Fest activities well-rested. KW
Photo 1: Mike and Nellie after a happier hunt.
Photo 2: The site of Elderberry Fest, our farm at Gilbert, Idaho.
Photo 3: You can see the gash on Nellie's leg.